Maharashtra batter Ruturaj Gaikwad was a glaring omission as the BCCI senior national selectors on Saturday announced the 15-member India A red-ball squad for the forthcoming two-match series against Australia A.
While social media was abuzz with discussions over his snub despite shining in the ongoing Duleep Trophy fixture in Bengaluru, where he crafted a solid first-innings 184 for West Zone, former India opener Aakash Chopra downplayed any bias over Gaikwad’s snub from the national red-ball set-up.
Gaikwad had led India A last year during the two-match tour to Australia but had a forgettable series, scoring only 20 runs in four innings. He travelled with the India A squad to England in late May, but returned with no game time before being dropped this week ahead of the home Test season.
There are superior perfomers
“Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 184 recently in the Duleep Trophy. However, he didn’t score runs in the India A shadow tour during the BGT time, where he was the captain. He was part of the India A squad for the England tour, but didn’t play. So he has been there and thereabouts,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“The thing that is going against Ruturaj is that what he has done is fine, but the others are coming after performing strongly. People are coming after setting domestic cricket on fire. You might say that if Shreyas Iyer is being kept, Ruturaj can also be kept. It’s an eye test. It’s about what you are seeing, and not necessarily about what the numbers are telling. It’s not favoritism or bias,” he added.
‘He averaged 38..’
The Chennai Super Kings captain has not been in the best of form in the red-ball circuit since last season, while swapping between the opening and a No. 4 batting role.
“He had an average of 38 in the 2024 Duleep Trophy. He didn’t score a lot of runs in the Irani Trophy. He didn’t score too many runs against Australia A, and he has played only four matches in the last two Ranji seasons. He has not played a lot of cricket,” Chopra observed.
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Patidar, a similar tale
Chopra also mentioned the case of Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar who has endured a similar run of fortune after having made his Test debut last year against England, hinting that the selectors may have turned a corner.
“In the same breath, Rajat Patidar, who also scored runs in the Duleep Trophy. He was elevated at one point, got a chance to play for the country. He was given opportunities in the series against England. There was hope that he would score runs as the conditions and pitches were good, but he didn’t score there,” he said.
“For the short term, that ship has also sailed, the bus has left the bus stop for both of them. It seems like the Indian selectors have started going in a slightly different direction,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
India A squad for Australia A series
Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (VC & WK), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur, KL Rahul*, Mohammed Siraj*.
